Posts

10 Easy Weight Loss Tips That Don’t Suck

Not just dieting, for weight loss you need to make major changes in your lifestyle. You can definitely lose weight through fad diets, but you’ll be left feeling famished, deprived, and unhappy. That’ll make losing weight no less than a nightmare. One pound of fat is equivalent to approximately 3,500 calories. Cutting off 500 calories per day through food modifications and weight training, you can easily lose about a pound a week.

For a healthy fitness regimen, adopt the following simple and painless tips without restricting yourself to a diet:

Eat Breakfast daily and timely:

One healthy habit that’s common among people with success stories on losing weight and maintaining it is eating a healthy breakfast daily. People often skip breakfast to cut down calories, but finish up eating more throughout the day – that’s not healthy at all! Studies have proven that people who have their breakfast every day have lower BMIs and better performance than those who skip breakfast. You can opt for a whole-grain cereal or oatmeal with fruit and nuts and skimmed milk for a nutritious starting of the day.

Keep the kitchen doors closed – only to open in the morning!

Fix a time in the evening when you finish your last meal and close the kitchen to avoid your late-night munching and mindless snacking. If you crave for something sweet after dinner, you can opt for a mug of green tea, a piece of dark chocolate, a bowl of low-fat ice cream or frozen yogurt.

Make use of liquid calories sensibly:

Soft drinks or sweetened juices pile on bad calories, but doesn’t kill your hunger like solid food does. The best drink that can fulfill your thirst is water. Other than that, you can have fresh fruit or vegetable juices, or sip on a refreshing glass of smoothie before lunchtime. Calories in alcohol can add up very quickly. Hence, as a huge calorie saver, it is important to limit your alcohol consumption to the weekends.

Eat Snack, But Smartly!

Nutritionists recommend that it’s better to satisfy your hunger pangs with healthy food rather than ignoring it and indulging yourself in a junk-food binge later. For snacks, the best picks would be a fulfilling, protein-rich snack, for example, one stick of string cheese, a tablespoon of peanut butter with slices of green apple, or a medium-size bowl of beans, or grilled bran bread sandwich.

Exercise Three Times A Week:

Make it a habit and exercise at least three times in a week for 5 minutes only. Include 3 sets of push-ups, lunges, and squats for building and maintaining muscle mass. The more muscle you have, the higher your metabolism will be, so you’ll burn out more calories on every day basis. Moreover, weight training is a vital part of any fitness program. Combining your aerobic exercise with weight training will help increase your strength, tone your muscles, improves your posture and helps in losing fat quickly.

Sleep For Longer:

Make it a habit to get into bed 30 minutes earlier and wake up 30 minutes later than you normally did to help you make better food choices. Since you will be well rested, you will be less prone to snacking out of lethargy or stress.

Have ‘Protein’ at Every Meal or Snack:

Adding lean or low-fat protein to your meal or snack will help you feel full for longer. You can even opt for low-fat yogurt, a handful of nuts, boiled or poached eggs, beans, or lean meats such as fish, turkey, or chicken fillets. Experts suggest consuming small but frequent meals after every 3 hours in order to maintain the blood sugar level and escape gorging.

Shift to Lighter Substitutes:

Whenever possible, opt for low-fat varieties of salad dressings, dairy products, mayonnaise etc.This is another way to trim your calories using smart substitutes. You can even use salsa or hummus as a dip or choose mustard over mayo, prefer roasted sweet potatoes in place of carbs-laden white potatoes; use low-fat or skim milk instead of creamer in your daily coffee mug, and sprinkle vinaigrette on your salad as an alternative to creamy dressing.

Use the Power of Visualization

Visualize a mental picture of yourself looking and feeling slim, smart, and radiant. The visual inspiration helps you keep a clear focus on your weight goals and reminds you that you can achieve it and you can.